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Rethinking Invention: Cognition and the Economics of Technological Creativity

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Author Info
Gary B. Magee

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Abstract

Economists have typically not devoted much attention to the act of invention. This paper attempts to redress this situation by exploring a form of cognition, analogical transfer, which is thought by some researchers to lie at the heart of successful creativity. An analogical transfer is said to have occurred when information and experiences from one known situation is retrieved and utilized in the search for the solution to an entirely different situation. This paper shows how such analogical thought can give rise to a theoretical framework, in which disparate factors pertaining to technological creativity can be pieced together to yield an explanation of the level of inventive output experienced.

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File URL: http://www.economics.unimelb.edu.au/SITE/research/workingpapers/wp02/861.pdf
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Publisher Info
Paper provided by The University of Melbourne in its series Department of Economics - Working Papers Series with number 861.

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Length: 44 pages
Date of creation: 2002
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:mlb:wpaper:861

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Related research
Keywords: invention; technological change; technological creativity; problem solving; learning.;

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
O31 - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth - - Technological Change - - - Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives
D83 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Search, Learning, and Information

References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:

  1. Magee, Gary Bryan, 1999. "Technological Development and Foreign Patenting: Evidence from 19th-Century Australia," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 36(4), pages 344-359, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Teubal, Morris & Yinnon, Tamar & Zuscovitch, Ehud, 1991. "Networks and market creation," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 20(5), pages 381-392, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Blanchflower, David G & Oswald, Andrew J, 1987. "Profit Sharing--Can It Work?," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 39(1), pages 1-19, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. Bianchi, Patrizio & Bellini, Nicola, 1991. "Public policies for local networks of innovators," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 20(5), pages 487-497, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. Cowan, Robin & Foray, Dominique, 1997. "The Economics of Codification and the Diffusion of Knowledge," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press, vol. 6(3), pages 595-622, September.
  6. Glasmeier, Amy, 1991. "Technological discontinuities and flexible production networks: The case of Switzerland and the world watch industry," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 20(5), pages 469-485, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Dosi, Giovanni, 1997. "Opportunities, Incentives and the Collective Patterns of Technological Change," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 107(444), pages 1530-47, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. DeBresson, Chris & Amesse, Fernand, 1991. "Networks of innovators :A review and introduction to the issue," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 20(5), pages 363-379, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  9. Liebeskind, Julia Porter, 1997. "Keeping Organizational Secrets: Protective Institutional Mechanisms and Their Costs," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press, vol. 6(3), pages 623-63, September.
  10. Tripsas, Mary, 1997. "Surviving Radical Technological Change through Dynamic Capability: Evidence from the Typesetter Industry," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press, vol. 6(2), pages 341-77, March.
  11. Marvin B. Lieberman, 1984. "The Learning Curve and Pricing in the Chemical Processing Industries," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 15(2), pages 213-228, Summer. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  12. Allen, Robert C., 1983. "Collective invention," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 4(1), pages 1-24, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  13. Rosenkopf, Lori & Tushman, Michael L, 1998. "The Coevolution of Community Networks and Technology: Lessons from the Flight Simulation Industry," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press, vol. 7(2), pages 311-46, June.
  14. Nonaka, Ikujiro & Toyama, Ryoko & Nagata, Akiya, 2000. "A Firm as a Knowledge-Creating Entity: A New Perspective on the Theory of the Firm," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press, vol. 9(1), pages 1-20, March.
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Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Corsi Christian, 2008. "Il research project management," wp.comunite 0044, Department of Communication, University of Teramo. [Downloadable!]
  2. Stephane Tywoniak & Peter Galvin & Jennifer Davies, 2007. "New Institutional Economics' contribution to strategic groups analysis," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(3), pages 213-228. [Downloadable!]
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